Overseas investors bought the largest amount of South Korean shares in 2 1/2 years last month, data showed Monday.

Foreigners bought a net 3.7 trillion won ($3.28 billion) worth of local shares in January, following their purchase of 116 billion won of Korean equities a month earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a statement.

The tally is the largest amount since July 2016, when they scooped up shares worth 4.1 trillion won, according to the data. Investors from the United States and Luxembourg were among net sellers of equities last month, while those from Singapore and Malta, among others, were in a net buying mode.

As of end-January, foreign investors held 567.2 trillion won worth of South Korean stocks, accounting for 32.3 percent of the total market capitalization.

By country, the U.S. held the largest portion of South Korean shares, or 42.9 percent, followed by Britain with 8.2 percent, Luxemburg with 6.3 percent and Singapore with 5.3 percent, according to the FSS.

On the back of the foreign buying, the benchmark KOSPI finished the first month of the year at 2,204.85, up 8.7 percent from the end of last year.

Instead, foreigners turned to a net selling mode in the local bond market in January by offloading a net 1.7 trillion won worth of local bonds. In addition, they withdrew 2.1 trillion won worth of local bonds on maturity in January.

Foreigners' holdings of local debt stood at 110.2 trillion won at the end of last month, accounting for 6.4 percent of the total market, the data showed. (Yonhap)